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DREAM/SONGS FROM
THE MOON OF BEULAH LAND
I-V

I.

How much love can I pour into you I said

before it runs out of you

like undigested spinach

or shall I stuff you

like a ritual goose

with whatever you think

you want of me

and for whose killing

shall I grow you up

to leave me

to mourn

in the broken potsherds

upon my doorstep

in silent tears of the empty morning?

But I'm not going anywhere you said

why is there always

another question

beyond the last question

anuwered

out of your mouth

another storm?

It's happening

I said.

II.

Whenever I look for you the wind

howls with danger

beware the tree arms scream

what you are seeking

will find you

in the night

in the fist of your dreaming

and in my mouth

the words became sabers

cutting my boundaries

to ribbons

of merciless light.

III.

I dreamt you were driving me

in a big black Mazda

the car with a rotary engine

that ate up three kinds of gas at the same time

and whenever we came

to a station upon our journey

I would have to jump out

and explain

to the redfaced attendant

with a panting hose in his hand

that each kind of gas

gave us very different mileage

and we needed them all

for the combined use of all three

would get us to where we were going

with a great economy

of energy.

IV.

You say I am

sound as a drum

but that's very hard to be

as you cover your ears

with academic parchment

be careful

you might rip the cover

with your sharp nails

and then I will not sound at all.

To put us another way

what I come wrapped in

should be familiar to you

as hate is

what I come wrapped in

is close to you

as love is

close

to death

or your lying tongue

surveying the countries

of our mouths.

If I were drum

you would beat me

listening for the echo

of your own touch

not seeking

the voice of the spirit

inside the drum

only the spreading out shape

of your own hand on my skin

cover.

If I ever really sounded

I would rupture

your eardrums

or your heart.

V.

Learning to say goodbye

is finding a new tomorrow

on some cooler planet

barren and unfamiliar

and guildess.

It costs the journey

to learn

letting go

of the burn-out rockets

to learn how

to light up space

with the quick fire of refusal

then drift gendy down

to the dead surface

of the moon.